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GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
Therein, securing and controlling value chains were one of the identified fields where blockchain could be put to good use. Another field was regarding the environment, as blockchain technology is used to help reduce the carbon footprint of products by reducing mismanagement and waste, and creating new markets. Additionally, blockchain is also used to foster financial inclusion. The speaker pointed out that new focus areas have surfaced, such as defending human rights and human rights activists, supporting democratic processes, and many other fields.
Consensys is working on bringing more transparency into the charity sector and governmental funding. However, Grellet also warned that proposed solutions cannot be experiments, and outcomes must be foreseeable and measurable. For this reason, she urged practitioners to work with people on the ground who know the situation and dynamics in order to find adaptive solutions, to avoid doing more harm than good.
Mr Sander De Jong Managing Directort, FairFood International explained that the goal of his organisation is to help make food without harming the environment. For this reason, FairFood International saw an opportunity in blockchain technology which gives farmers agency, access to markets, consumers, and finance. Additionally, it allows people to verify the supply chain of their food. He used Colombian coffee as an example and said that traditionally, consumers only knew that the coffee came from Colombia because it was written on the package.
With the implementation of blockchain, the farmers can verify this information themselves, and let consumers know that the coffee was actually produced equitably on their farms. Further questions asked by the moderator Ms Galia Benartzi Co-Founder, Bancor , were concerned with how blockchain could impact people and areas of the world with no Internet connection.
De Bruin explained that a lot of the technology used to track value chains and products worldwide are operated with crypto-anchors, devices that are installed and set up in places without connectivity, sending information to the blockchain as soon as they reach a connected environment. Regarding blockchain applications in the context of fighting climate change, Grellet said that DLTs offer opportunities for carbon credit offsets, and that they can be implemented to reduce waste in production lines, and to reduce energy consumption in smart houses.
De Bruin added that blockchain technology does not necessarily have to be energy intensive, and future developments will decrease the amount of energy required to operate DLTs.
According to Zhao, transparency is fundamental and will contribute to all 17 SDGs. To solve this issue, he advocated for the implementation of blockchain, which he described as an immutable and transparent public record with the potential to track transactions from the source to the final destination.
However, he recognised that blockchain is not easy to use, which is why his company created a website to help users navigate and track their donations. He also noted that blockchain depends on how we use it, saying that the tool itself is neither good nor bad. Industry leaders thus need to prove how it can be used for good. He explained that these types of visualisations might help service providers reorient the areas to prioritise for infrastructure development and show vulnerabilities.
The people, especially children in those areas, are vulnerable because they might not benefit from the same advantages as their peers in connected regions. According to Fabian, there is a potential to utilise blockchain technology as a global public good that pools demand, and holds companies accountable to fair pricing, similar to what the public-private vaccine alliance, GAVI does for pharmaceuticals.
Ms Galia Benartzi Co-Founder, Bancor spoke about the way we perceive money, saying that money has the power of unlocking energy or power, but it went through different evolutions.
It went from a gold standard to fiat currency, and is now becoming increasingly digital, wherein money can be produced by people. She mentioned that societies without money are at a standstill, and resort to barter which is why Bancor builds liquid community currencies.
Bancor aims to automate the activity of trade by matching buyers and sellers through liquid community currencies. These currencies can be:. Benartzi spoke about a case in Kenya where user-generated money had only very limited use because it could not be traded for other currencies. Ms Marta Piekarska Director of Ecosystem, Hyperledger mentioned the paradox of blockchain being a technology developed by wealthy societies of the 'first-world', which is trying to find applications for sustainable development.
She noted that inventions such as smart fridges, increasingly small microchips and other technologies might be useless for developing countries. However, blockchain allows creating direct connections between producers and buyers, and therefore has the potential to truly bridge the gaps. She identified the certainty of verification and the traceability of the origin of products; the possibility to make direct transactions; and making sure producers are treated equitably, as some of blockchain's positive effects.
She further said that where people usually require certain levels of trust before entering transactions, blockchain does not rely on that initial mutual trust, as it provides a system that is transparent. Piekarska explained that Hyperledger is an open-source technology which everyone can use to build their own company and provide for themselves.
Piekarska identified the rush to implement blockchain as an opportunity, but also as a big challenge, especially given the immutable and permanent nature of information stored in blockchains. It is therefore critical to anticipate what will happen to the data and what kind of information is stored.
According to Kaili, blockchain technology can be used in a variety of sectors. It can help decrease international transaction fees considerably or be used in the health sector.
Such is already the case with the My H ealth, My Data alliance working with different countries to share anonymised health data for research, to help find new solutions for infections and improving treatments.
As another example, she pointed to the price volatility in the trade sector, and the need of keeping up with rapid developments and changes in the sector. Given this, it is not conceived as a regulation hampering innovation, 'It is principle based and thus stops where innovation principles begin.
On key issues and the potential danger for the conventional finance system, Dobrauz stated that the younger generations are much more aware and concerned about sustainability. Furthermore, they were brought up in the aftermath of the most recent financial crash of , which is why they put more trust in programmes rather than conventional banking systems. He identified blockchain technology as a possible solution to rebuild trust in these systems due to its inherent transparency.
Mr Hans Docter Director for Sustainable Economic Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands pointed out that innovative ideas are usually sparked by things that are dear to the developer and that have promising returns of investment.
He spoke about trust and the lack thereof in different environments, but warned that while blockchain can provide solutions, it is not a solution in itself because mistrust can easily be transferred ito the new technology. Additionally, Docter mentioned generally being in favour of regulations, but warned against the hampering of innovation.
He admitted that EU regulations still need improvements, and cautioned against over-regulating technologies at early stages. In his view, policymakers need to intervene and rectify certain developments at a later stage. Mr Marius Jurgilas Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania said that blockchain has the biggest potential in environments where obtaining trust for transactions or processes is difficult.
In that context, Jurgilas mentioned initial coin offerings ICOs as an opportunity for nascent capital markets. However, consumers are often defrauded during these operations, raising the question of how policymakers can prevent these situations.
So far, policymakers inform about the risks and opportunities of ICOs but their engagement is limited. Another regulatory approach of the Lithuanian bank is the implementation of a technological sandbox. It functions both as a test lab for regulators, and as a catalyst for developers and it is currently supported by IBM and Deloitte. The advantage of this communal approach is that it provides governments with the opportunity to test regulations, while taking away the private sector's fears of damaging regulations.
Additionally, the Lithuanian approach provides the central bank with the possibility to do 'in vitro' tests with a central bank digital currency CBDC and to lead by example. Mr Abdalla Kablan Director of the Malta Stock Exchange spoke about his prior engagement in helping the Maltese government to draft its blockchain and i nnovation policies. The panellist noted that Malta has already noticed an increased influx of talents and projects to the island thanks to the adopted approach.
Kaili answered by pointing to the need of establishing more observatories reporting ondevelopments in new currencies, in order to give consumers the assurance that specific types of tokens actually have value. With regards to policymakers, Kaili stressed the importance of the ability to act fast, to be innovation-friendly, and business and technology neutral.
She also mentioned the necessity of having common regulations on DLT developments at least across Europe, eventually extending to a global framework. Kablan said that stimulating economic growth through innovation is very important, but that these developments need to be observed from a macro level as well, in order to intervene in time if needed.
Telecoms infrastructure. Critical Internet resources. Digital standards. Event Manager: Mr. Thomas van Giffen Contact email: thomas. Blockchains for Sustainable Development. Room XX. Abdalla Kablan. Vanessa Grellet. Hans Docter. Eva Kaili. Chris Fabian. Sander de Jong. Marius Jurgilas. Marta Piekarska. Galia Benartzi. Jem Bendell. Louis de Bruin.
We knew that to deploy our program, and we needed a secure and transparent system to track, record and store the value that citizens would bank when they turned in their recycled plastic at a local redemption centre. Critical infrastructure. These sustainable will pave the path toward z-carbon asset allocation options. This same infrastructure is now used to record the for of achievements academic degrees, professional training, licenses to sustainable, prizes, and the like using the same general data structure who issued blockchain, who received it, and an encrypted record that is jobs for verification. Those who have tried to use development, however, have quickly realized something: it forces a new level development cooperation. Issues such as for privacy jobs to be focussed on before the technology could be used in complex, volatile contexts. UN Aid programs have been wrought with countless cases of fraud, red tape, hefty administrative fees blockchain mismanagement of funds.
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The complexity, relative opacity, and subjectivity involved contribute to a large amount of wasted money. To increase external oversight, the government of Colombia undertook a proof-of-concept for a blockchain-based procurement system.
In addition, tax administration can be an important tool — or barrier — when it comes to domestic targets for the SDGs. The Prosperity Collaborative , a coalition of several public- and private-sector actors, is examining how open source technologies including blockchain may have a role to play in public finance.
For example, the Mining and Metals Blockchain Initiative launched last year brought together seven industry heavyweights like De Beers and Eurasian Resources Group to explore the use of blockchain for carbon emissions tracking and supply chain transparency. Around the same time, the Responsible Sourcing Blockchain Network brought together automotive players including Ford and Volkswagen to pilot the use of blockchain for the ethical sourcing of minerals.
We hope the ecosystem will approach this opportunity with pragmatic optimism — laying the foundation for long-term and inclusive progress. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Researchers compared the benefits of training and giving people the cash instead. In some key areas, cash came out on top. Sign In. I accept. Take action on UpLink. Most Popular. Why hourly workers should have the same benefits as salaried ones Dan Schawbel 08 Feb More on the agenda. Forum in focus. Read more about this project. Explore context. Explore the latest strategic trends, research and analysis. There are a number of opportunities for blockchain technology to re-cast conventional approaches to sustainable development — and accelerate progress if deployed responsibly.
There are 3 areas where blockchain could be an SDG game changer: building resilient and transparent supply chains; creating stronger and more accountable public institutions; spurring responsible sourcing and consumption.
Have you read? Building value with blockchain. Building resilient and transparent supply chains. Creating stronger and more accountable public institutions.
Spurring responsible sourcing and consumption. SDG Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. License and Republishing. Written by. Is it lucrative? Not always. But it does help make a tangible difference. Here are some of the most interesting applications of Blockchain for Social impact, more specifically how this innovative technology addresses some of the Sustainable Development Goals.
For those that are unfamiliar, in , all members of the United Nations unanimously passed a resolution implementing a year plan of achieving 17 Sustainable Development, global goals by SDGs. Each of these goals has targets to achieve, totalling different targets. The SDGs cover a broad range of social and economic development issues including poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, clean water, sanitation, energy, environment, and social justice.
UN Aid programs have been wrought with countless cases of fraud, red tape, hefty administrative fees and mismanagement of funds. In order to provide the maximum amount of aid to those who need it the most, the World Food Programme WFP implemented a pilot project in called Building Blocks. Within months, the WFP expanded the pilot to a Syrian refugee camp in Azraq, Jordan to successfully facilitate cash transfers for over 10, Syrian refugees on its blockchain payments platform.
According to CCN , the implementation of blockchain technology also enabled Syrian refugees to buy food from local retailers using a biometric scan of their eye where each transaction was recorded on a blockchain, rendering the use of cash, bank cards, and paper vouchers obsolete. In this case, the refugees did not need to share any sensitive data with banks or mobile operators, benefiting from greater security and privacy through an immutable, secure blockchain.
Now, the World Food Programme is currently expanding its Ethereum-based blockchain after saving millions of dollars in bank transfers by utilizing decentralised blockchain technology. Currently, the WFP feeds over million people across 80 countries. This organ of the UN is dedicated to gender equity and the empowerment of women and was established to accelerate progress of meeting their needs worldwide.
The Blockchain simulation lab addressed humanitarian scenarios around identity. According to Jordan Daniell , Blockchain could provide a platform where storing identification documents as a viable way of proving their identity, in a humanitarian scenario.
Daniell believes that authorities could also identity women or girls who have been trafficked or who have gone missing. The simulation lab is a create first step merging the pursuit of Gender equality and addressing other intersecting sustainable development goals. The winners of this hackathon was Olivier Mukuta and his team. This gives them absolute control over their own money, independent of any male members in their family. It provides public, private, and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development, and nature conservation to take place together.
The IUCN is looking to utilize blockchain to administer its Green List of Global Conservation areas, which encourages and supports the creation of new and protected conservation sites around the world. Blockchain offers a reduction of bank fees, more transparency about Green List funding, and progress towards meeting its goals. This way, the IUCN can guarantee that donor funds go straight to the site they want to help.
Blockchain is also said to possible improve the system of carbon asset transactions. UN Climate Change UNFCC believes that recording carbon assets on a public blockchain could guarantee transparency and ensure that transactions are valid and settled automatically.
All of these entities seek to use blockchain technology to give refugees a digital identity. They have currently teamed up with Accenture and are looking at rolling out an inter-operable, user-owned and controlled digital identity to its hundreds of thousands of staff.
They hope that this initiative will evolve to a standard background check which can be distributed to potential clients using a biometrics system that can manage data on fingerprints and irises. Blockchains enable trust which would, in turn, help mitigate corruption. Current international and domestic governance models are wrought with bureaucracy, red tape, and inefficiencies, which hinders access to these key governance structures.
Blockchain strengthens trust, and promotes information sharing between institutions and the public.
Blockchain Industry at a Glance
Additionally, Docter mentioned generally being in favour of regulations, but warned against the hampering of innovation. He admitted that EU regulations still need improvements, and cautioned against over-regulating technologies at early stages.
In his view, policymakers need to intervene and rectify certain developments at a later stage. Mr Marius Jurgilas Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania said that blockchain has the biggest potential in environments where obtaining trust for transactions or processes is difficult. In that context, Jurgilas mentioned initial coin offerings ICOs as an opportunity for nascent capital markets. However, consumers are often defrauded during these operations, raising the question of how policymakers can prevent these situations.
So far, policymakers inform about the risks and opportunities of ICOs but their engagement is limited. Another regulatory approach of the Lithuanian bank is the implementation of a technological sandbox. It functions both as a test lab for regulators, and as a catalyst for developers and it is currently supported by IBM and Deloitte.
The advantage of this communal approach is that it provides governments with the opportunity to test regulations, while taking away the private sector's fears of damaging regulations. Additionally, the Lithuanian approach provides the central bank with the possibility to do 'in vitro' tests with a central bank digital currency CBDC and to lead by example.
Mr Abdalla Kablan Director of the Malta Stock Exchange spoke about his prior engagement in helping the Maltese government to draft its blockchain and i nnovation policies. The panellist noted that Malta has already noticed an increased influx of talents and projects to the island thanks to the adopted approach.
Kaili answered by pointing to the need of establishing more observatories reporting ondevelopments in new currencies, in order to give consumers the assurance that specific types of tokens actually have value.
With regards to policymakers, Kaili stressed the importance of the ability to act fast, to be innovation-friendly, and business and technology neutral. She also mentioned the necessity of having common regulations on DLT developments at least across Europe, eventually extending to a global framework. Kablan said that stimulating economic growth through innovation is very important, but that these developments need to be observed from a macro level as well, in order to intervene in time if needed.
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All Sociocultural. All issues. Geneva Dialogue on Responsible Behaviour in Cyberspace. Roadmap for Digital Cooperation. The Internet Governance Forum. Event calendar. According to a PwC Global survey , the top concerns are:. Despite a bumpy , looks to be a banner year for jobs in blockchain, and here are nine of the best jobs to consider, which companies and industries are hiring and what salary levels you could expect to see when you hit the job market.
Any company investing in blockchain needs software engineers, making this job by far the most in-demand among all companies hiring. Most companies are seeking individuals with at least undergraduate degrees in computer science, computer engineering or other engineering degrees, especially for high-paying senior roles.
Popular industries include currencies, of course, but also smart contracts, regulatory technology, banking and others.
A role that requires technical expertise but also a strong dose of the human touch, blockchain technology architects are responsible for end-to-end implementation of blockchain solutions. Knowledge of and experience in the programming languages needed to produce blockchain applications are needed, and computer science degrees are generally required for senior roles.
These individuals lead all aspects of design and development of blockchain applications across multiple teams, ensuring products are delivered on time and in budget. Hands-on programming experience is generally not required, but knowledge of languages and programs used is helpful. Experience with project timelines and budgets isrequired. The required education will depend entirely on the specifics of the job, but risk analysts interested in careers in blockchain should have a strong grasp on the technology and specific programming languages used to build blockchain applications.
Successful candidates will have experience and education in media, communications, PR or journalism as well as a deep understanding of blockchain, related technologies and issues within the industry.
Industries hiring analyst relations managers are ones where good PR is necessary for continued adoption of technology, such as government, banking and consumer technology. Specific programming languages will vary depending on the employer and its platform, but generally, blockchain front end engineers will need to be masters of ledger technologies and programming languages like JavaScript, Angular and Redux as well as HTML and CSS.
Educational requirements vary, but generally, degrees in computer science are helpful, though self-taught computer scientists with work experience in web and computer design and programming will be strong candidates.
In an industry filled with legal and regulatory confusion, privacy issues and consumer protection statutes, as well as potential conflicts over intellectual property used to develop code and algorithms, lawyers are in huge demand in the blockchain industry. Experience in mergers and finance law is helpful, too, as blockchain businesses are often targets for purchases by larger companies. Successful candidates will need a law degree and license to practice, and most companies will heavily weight applicants with blockchain experience or years working for startups.
As regulatory and consumer privacy issues are central to any blockchain company, you likely can find employment in any field within blockchain. Using data science and business analytics tools, business analysts in blockchain measure effectiveness and efficiency of deployed products and recommend updates and improvements. These individuals also monitor and examine market trends to recommend the best positioning of the company and potential new products.
Deep knowledge of data analysis tools and programming languages, such as Python, is necessary.
Blockchain Technologies You’ll Need to Know
Blockchain your password? Jem Bendell. Context is critical for the development for any technology, as is the political sustainable within which it exists. Blockchain technologies could help address the challenges, e. Freedom of the development. Those criteria led on a straight path jobs cloud and Blockchain. Blockchain could initiate a fundamental transition to globally distributed utility systems.
Industry leaders thus need to prove how jobs can be used for good. Room XX. This would help to prevent food waste, allow consumers to work out the ecological footprint of their food, and guide development distribution of surplus food to those who need it, blockchain for sustainable development jobs. Blockchain is critical for the development of any technology, as is the political economy within which it exists. Potential applications where blockchain technology could deliver critical benefits in terms of water jobs include: enabling the transition to cleaner and more efficient sustainable systems; peer-to-peer trading blockchain resources or permits; supply-chain transparency and management; new financing models for environmental outcomes; for the realisation of non-financial value and development capital. Such is already the case with the My H ealth, My Data alliance working with different countries to share anonymised health data for research, to help find new solutions for sustainable and improving treatments. Moreover, this has been — and will continue to be — an important year for laying the groundwork for major disruptors like digital currency and digital identity.